William mcguibe



(No Model.)-

w. MQGUIRE. GRAIN GAR DOOR.

Patented June 3, 1884.

Imdnior %%J( m of a crow-bar or lever, to raise the door from joined together in any well-known manner, and

STATES ATENT OFFICE.

W'ILLIAllI MCGUIRE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND FRANK JAGER, OF SAME PLACE.

GRAIN-CAR DOOR.

EPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 299,822, dated June 3, 1884.

Application filed March To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM: MoGUIRE, re-. siding at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, and a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Grain-Oar Doors, of which the following is a full description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-.-

Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of the doorway of a car, showing the roof and floor in section; Fig. 2, a cross-section of a portion of the car, showing the door swung up out of position, and showing by dotted lines the door in its closed position; Fig. 3, a top edge view of the door, showing the locking-guard and guide; Fig. 4:, a detail showinga locking-hook for holding the door in position when closed down; Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8, modifications of the guide-pin and guard.

This invention relates, primarily, to graincar doors, and has for its objects to increase the ease and facility of handling the door when raising and lowering it, to construct and arrange the door and its supports so asto occupy but little rooinwhen down, and when up to be entirely out of the way in loading cars with lumber and other likematcrial, and to insure a perfect locking and retention of the door when raised or open, and at the same time allow of easy unlocking for the purpose of dropping the door into its closed position; and its nature consists in the several devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described, and specifically pointed out in the claims, for attaining the objects sought.

In the drawings, A represents thedoor, made of boards or other suitable material,

of the required height for closing the doorway when the car is loaded with grain, and of a length for the width of doorway. The lower edge of the door, in the form of construction shown, is provided with a fulcrum, made of a piece of iron or otherwise, for engaging with the end of a crow-bar or other lever and starting the door when the car is loaded, and, as shown, just above the fulcrum a is a rest, a, made of iron or otherwise, to receive the end 25, 1884. (No model.)

the outside and swing it up out of the way, in the position shown in Fig. 2.

B represents the side pieces of the doorway, constructed and arranged in the usual manner. Each side piece has on its inner face an anti-friction roller, b, against which the edges of the door ride to prevent binding and sticking in raising the door; and, as shown, on the floor of the car adjacent to the inner face of each side-piece is located a stop, 12, made of any suitable material, between which and the face of the side pieces the lower corners of the door lie when closed, so that any movement" of the door at its lower end in or out is prevented.

0 represents eyes or loops, one for each side of the door, secured to the upper corners of the door in one form of construction shown, by means of angle-ironsO, formed with the eyes or loops, the angle-irons being on both sides of the doorand inset so as to leave a smooth face; but these eyes or loops could be attached in any other suitable firm manner so as to project properly beyond the edges of the door.

The side of the eye which lies adjacent to the door is formed straight, and the opposite side of the eye to this face projects beyond the face of the door, as shown in Fig. 3, and this side 0 of the eye when the door is in its raised position abuts against or nearly against the under side of the roof of the car, as shown in Fig. 2, with the side 0 resting in the loop of the guide-rod.

' D represents the guide-rods, one for each side of the door, each guide-rod being secured to its side piece, B, in the form of construction shown, by turning the ends and passing 7 them through or into the side piece. The upper end of each retaining support D is curved or bent to form ahalf-loop, d, the curve or bend serving to throw theloop or guide 0 into said half-loop d, which latter constitutes the holding part of the retaining-support D. WVhen the door is raised, the loop or guide 0 will strike the curve or bend of the support D and cause the part or pin 0 of the loop or guide 0 to be thrown into the holding part 01 of the support. The curve or bend also facilitates the dropping of the door, as it leaves a clear passage for the descent of the part or pin c,with no abrupt angles for thelatter to strike. The loop or guide 0 is turned so as to form the eye on theinside; but it is evident that it could be turned in a reverse direction and form the loop on the outside, in which case there would be more space, allowing for the use of a larger door. These guide-rods, when the door is in position, lie within the loop 0 on each end of the door, and they are so arranged as to just clear the ends of the door with a sufficient space between them and the face of the side piece, B, for the travel of the piece 0 of the loop; and instead of being formed and ar ranged as shown, they could be otherwise formed, to be inclosed by the loop, and furnish the guide and support for the top edge of the door in being raised and lowered.

E is the roof supported on sills or pieces E E, as usualone side only being shownand to the center piece, E, as shown, is attached a spring-hook, e, by means of which the door is retained when in the position shown in Fig. 2; but other devices than the spring-hook, applied as shown, could be used for the purpose of retaining the door when turned up.

F is the floor of a'car, supported on a frame- I work, F, as usual.

G is a swinging hook pivoted to the side pieces, B, at the proper point to turn down and engage the top edge of the door and hold it securely when in its closed position, as shown in Fig. 4E.

The operation is as follows: The door being down, as shown in Fig. 1, is started when the car is loaded by placing a crow-bar or other suitable lever in the fulcrum a, and bearing down thereon to give the door a start, and after being started the door can be raised by hand, or by placing the levers under the bottom edge, and when raised, so that the eyes 0 pass into the curve of the top of the guide-rods, the lower edge of the door will then be clear of the grain, so that by using the crow-bar or other lever, or in any other suitable manner, it can be swung up in the position shown in Fig. 2, in which position its bottom edge will be caught and held by the spring or other catch 6, while its top edge will be supported by the loop or eye (1, in which the bar 0 of the loop rests, while the bar 0 of the loop will be in a vertical or nearly vertical position, and in contact, or nearly so, with the under face of the roof or other stop, preventing vertical play, by which the door might be displaced. The door is dropped into its closed position by disengaging its bottom edge from the catch, allowing it to swing down, which movement brings the loop 0 into a horizontal position, so that the bar 0 can be raised out of the eye or opening d and pass into the opening between the guiderod and the side piece of the door, allowing the door to drop into its closed position.

Grain-cars, after being unloaded and not refilled, are usually loaded with lumber or other similar material, and by having a sliding door which can be thrown up against the roof, it will be seen that an increased amount of space is provided transversely of the car, for the .as shown, the loop 0 is made to encircle the guide-rods; but it is evident that instead of guide-rods guideways might be used, secured to the inner face of the side pieces of the door, as shown in Fig. 5, in which case the guide or bar 0 might be in the form of a pin. entering the recess in the guideway, and the guard 0 may be made to project at right angles to the pin and lie adjacent to the edge of the guideway, which form of construction is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The operation will be the same as that described for the loop C.

The guide and pin 0 can be of the form shown in Figs. 7 and S, in which form the outer end of each pin is provided'with a flange or rim, 0, forming a stop when the door is in its elevated position, and with this form of construction guide-rods D, either of a round, square, or rectangular shape, can be used, the pins 0 passing between the rods and the inner face of the side pieces; and other forms of constructing the guide-pin and guard can be used so long as such parts act to hold the door in position in being raised and lowered, and form a guard to prevent the door from slipping out of position when elevated.

The guard can be made to engage the under surface of the roof where practicable; but in case this cannot be done a block or strip can be secured to the roof at the proper point to engage the guards and prevent upward movement'.

The'door is primarily designed for use in grain-cars, but it can be used in other places where a sliding door is desirable that can be thrown up out of the way and retained in that position in an eifectual and reliable manner.

Instead of using a guide-rod,the form of con struction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 could be used with a guide-groove formed in the casing, the upper end of such groove having therein a curved deflecting and retaining portion similar to that formed by the part cl.

I am aware that a sectional car-door has been arranged in vertical grooves having open tops, horizontal grooves being provided under the car-roof, and such grooves having curved inlets and providedwith upper and lower de- I pressions, whereby the sections of the door can be raised in the vertical grooves and lodged in the roof, one section directly over the other,-

the door-sections having pintles which rest in the said depressions.

I am also aware that a car-door has been provided with gudgeons arranged to move between the car-wall and vertical guide-rods, the latter having shoulders at their lower ends to form bearings for the gudgeons when the door is down, and with bearings at their upper ends for the gudgeons when the door is up, the top bearings permitting the door to swing inward and upward to engage a hook in the car-roof for retaining the door in its elevated position. Such, therefore, I do not claim.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. A door having on 'each end a guide or loop, in combination with retaining hooks or supports, the main or body portion of which 

